


a few cheap shots away (from the end of me)

by Sophia_Clark



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Derek and Stiles Meet Differently, Derek and Stiles are Childhood Friends, Derek's Eyebrows, M/M, POV Stiles, Pre-Slash, Sassy Derek, To Be Continued, derek is grumpy cat
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-08
Updated: 2013-09-08
Packaged: 2017-12-26 01:26:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/959960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sophia_Clark/pseuds/Sophia_Clark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Derek's expression became very grumpy, his eyebrows sinking lower while he pouted. Far from making him look scary or intimidating at all, Stiles couldn't help but think he was utterly adorable.</i>
</p><p> </p><p>AU where Stiles knew Laura and Derek before the fire.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a few cheap shots away (from the end of me)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for CHALLENGE 04 - STORY TIME at [beacon_hills](http://beacon-hills.livejournal.com) on lj. I'd like to write more in this universe at some point if my muse lets me. :)
> 
> Some dialogue taken from 01x01 - _Wolf Moon_. Title from _Looking Up_ by Paramore.
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** I do not own Teen Wolf, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Whenever someone asks Stiles how old he'd been when he figured out he liked guys, he always gives the same easy answer. "I think on some level I've always known, you know?" While this isn't exactly a lie, it isn't the whole truth either. Stiles can, in fact, pinpoint the precise moment in time when he first realized that he maybe swung both ways. That maybe, just maybe, Lydia Martin was not the only creature who could cause his eyes to bulge out of his head like in a cartoon and his heart to beat even faster than normal. Stiles was nine years old when he met Derek Hale.

Derek was the younger brother of one of Stiles' most favorite people, his babysitter, Laura. Laura watched him whenever his parents needed a break (Stiles was never sure if they needed a break from work, life in general, or _him_ , but he was too afraid of the answer to ask) and she always brought over games and snacks and other fun things to keep his over-active mind busy. She was the one who introduced him to comic books, for which he would be eternally grateful. He also perfected the art of sarcasm by watching her. In short, she was just about the coolest person Stiles had ever met. That is, until he met her brother.

It was a chilly fall day the first time he met Derek. Stiles remembered this because he had been wearing his favorite jacket, the red one with the blue stripes across the pockets, and also because it was before his mom started to get sick. That hadn't been until the spring. The then-deputy Stilinski was at work and Stiles' mom needed to run some errands, so she was dropping him off at the Hale house for the afternoon. This was exciting because Laura usually came to his house when she watched him; this was the first time he'd ever even seen her house or her family. Laura had talked about them, and Stiles couldn't wait to meet them all.

He remembered jumping out of the car almost before his mom had turned it off and bounding up the porch steps to knock on the door. He had expected Laura to answer the door, so when a tall boy with intense eyebrows opened it instead, Stiles could only gape at him for a few moments.

"Uh...where's Laura?" he asked, still staring at the boy's eyebrows. One of them lifted while he smirked at Stiles.

"A little young for her, aren't you?"

Stiles was confused. Did Laura usually babysit older kids? "I'm nine; it's not like I'm a baby or anything."

The boy rolled his eyes just like Laura always did. Stiles couldn't stop watching his eyebrows. They were so expressive. "Never mind, kid." Then he turned to yell up the stairs, "Laura, your date's here!"

Stiles looked around as his mom came up behind him, chuckling. "What's so funny?" he asked her, but she just smiled at him.

"Derek's just teasing Laura, dear. It's what little brothers do."

"Little brothers who don't want to live to see tomorrow," Laura said as she pushed past Derek in the doorway. Derek's expression became very grumpy, his eyebrows sinking lower while he pouted. Far from making him look scary or intimidating at all, Stiles couldn't help but think he was utterly adorable. He was like a kitten who had had their food taken away. Stiles wanted to coo at him, but managed to hold it back.

While Stiles' mom and Laura talked, Derek gave Stiles one last cute-grumpy-cat look and stormed up the stairs, presumably to his room. Stiles didn't see him again that day, but those few minutes had been enough for Stiles to know that he liked Derek. Sass and eyebrows and grumpy face and all.

After that he made it his mission to learn everything he could about Derek. He was fifteen, had a lot of friends, and was on the high school basketball team. Laura gave him funny looks whenever he asked about Derek, but she always answered him in the end. She probably thought Stiles hero-worshiped him or something, but that wasn't really it. Stiles did think Derek was extremely cool and wanted to be like him, but he also got a funny feeling in his stomach when Derek was around, and the only other time that happened to him was when Lydia smiled or answered a question in class.

He started following Derek around whenever he was over at the Hale's, asking him endlessly about music he listened to and TV shows he watched. Derek seemed to like all the attention, although he wasn't happy when Laura teased him about it. Stiles was just happy that he acknowledged his existence, something Lydia was yet to do. He knew realistically that he didn't have a chance with Derek, who was older and much cooler than him, but he genuinely liked spending time with him. He figured Derek putting up with him as sort-of friends was better than nothing.

So while Stiles likes to give the easy answer when people ask him, he hadn't really known _for sure_ that he was into dudes until Derek Hale entered his radar. Of course, it hadn't been long after that that his mom had gotten sick and the fire had killed most of the Hale family. Laura and Derek had moved away, to stay with other relatives Stiles guessed, and Stiles had lost three of the most important people to him pretty much all at once. The past six years had not been particularly fun, but at least he still has his dad and Scott. He doesn't think he would have survived if it wasn't for them.

Which is why he's making werewolf jokes instead of freaking out about Scott's weird symptoms. Humor is his best defense, after all. He was the one who dragged Scott out into the woods. If anything is seriously wrong with him, it's all Stiles' fault.

And then he sees some guy lurking a few feet away from them. He's dressed from head to toe in black and he has a serious sour-puss face going on. He hits Scott to get his attention and the guy tells them they're on private property. Stiles must not have been paying close enough attention to where they were going, because he could've sworn they were on the old Hale property.

"Uh...sorry, man. We didn't know."

Then the guy gives them these sassy eyebrows and throws Scott his inhaler...and just walks away. Just like that. Casual as you please. Stiles gapes after him for a few moments before he places those eyebrows and realizes that that mysterious stranger is no stranger at all. He flails and hits Scott again.

"Dude, that was Derek Hale!"


End file.
